A Historical, Liturgical and Musical Exploration of Kondakarnoie Pienie. The Deciphering of a Medieval Slavic Enigma
A Historical, Liturgical and Musical Exploration of Kondakarnoie Pienie. The Deciphering of a Medieval Slavic Enigma

Author(s): Gregory Myers
Contributor(s): Elena Toncheva (Editor), Svetlana Kujumdzieva (Editor)
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, History, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Music, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion
Published by: Кирило-Методиевски научен център при Българска академия на науките
Keywords: Kondakarian and Byzantine manuscript tradition; Kondakarnoie pienie; Liturgy and Typikon; Musical Sources; Original Slavic Hymnody.
Summary/Abstract: Kondakarnoie pienie is one of medieval music's enduring mysteries. The nature of its repertory and the deciphering of its musical script are beset with complex problems. The key to the direct transcription of Kondakarian musical notation has not survived, had it ever existed in the first place; an exact rendering of the Kondakarian neumes into modern staff notation is for now impossible owing to the peculiar nature of the signs. Aside from the contrasting cultural climates of the Byzantine Greeks and Medieval Slavs, local customs produce variants within a common manuscript tradition, and the considerable chronological differences separating the surviving corpus of manuscripts further complicates the situation. While those who have examined the Kondakar have universally acknowledged the Byzantine origins of its notation, the absence of a transcribable Byzantine intermediary has kept the decoding of the enigmatic script elusive, with the result that the bulk of its richest repertory, i.e., the kontakia, has remained indecipherable.

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